The heavens declare His righteousness

Posted Thursday, November 17, 2011, at 12:27 PM

In the pre-sunrise light of a November morning a person's senses can play tricks on him.

Here is that place and time when clumps of brush appear to be living creatures and seem to move across the field in the eerie gray starkness. The limbs and branches of nearby trees collide gently and sound like antlers impacting with the wood or footsteps making their way slowly along a nearby path.

Just then the eastern horizon gleams with spectacular streams of gold and orange and purple. We watch as a lingering star falls from its heavenly mooring and fades into the black sea of the western sky. We watch with awe as the Sun makes its first appearance above the distant tree line, chasing the stars and the moon from their temporary resting places and into the darkness that so quickly flees.

We see His handiwork. We marvel at His creation. We breathe in the air that He so freely provides. We hear the music of a thousand songbirds and the drumbeat of two-thousand wings in flight.

There is a unique pleasantness about this time of day -- and this place -- as well. The solitude of the woods and fields provide a much needed respite from the day-to-day hustle and bustle of life; from the everyday worries and burdens that may somehow weigh us down. Here are a place and a time that merge to form a most special experience; one that reminds us of our smallness in the grand scheme of things while assuring us that the Creator loves us enough to meet us here in the stillness of this quiet place.

Admittedly, this is not the reason we are here. Each one comes here with our own agenda. We bear the tools and trappings handed down from generation to generation to be used in another endeavor.

Even so, we find ourselves being blessed with the sights and sounds and smells of the earth. We are given the opportunity, however fleeting it may be, to meet with the Creator in this marvelous place.

If we would but wait and listen, calmly and closely, I am sure we could hear the voice of God speak in such a place. And that would be glorious.

"The heavens declare His righteousness; and all the peoples see His glory." Psalm 97:6

i like to be outdoors myself ... and i too have some of my best times of meditation and closeness to the creator while sitting at the edge of a field watching the sun rise and listening to the creatures beginning to stir.

Bob Stewart is pastor of Union Baptist Church. His long-running column ranges in topic from matters of faith to observations about life in Saline County, politics and the sights to see in travels throughout America.